April Meeting – AGM
Our April meeting was the AGM, as we move into the new year, 2022-23. The meeting began with readings by members from our ‘Women of Influence’ project (posted separately). What inspiring and remarkable women we heard about! As usual, the AGM was a fairly ritual process, reviewing the previous year and previewing the new. We were able to donate over £3000 last year, plus donations in kind, which was quite an achievement, given the limitations of the Covid pandemic. We were also very pleased to welcome two new members to the club.
Chair Jan Beeton thanked all members of the club who participated in this successful year, in particular the members of Executive, who have kept the ball rolling. The new Executive was confirmed, and will continue to meet via Zoom, which has worked well this year. The new Executive follows the structure of a “light touch” club. We will not have a President defining the programme and events for the year. Instead, each month a different member of the club will take responsibility for chairing the Executive meeting and the Club meeting, and organising the Club meeting speaker. All our fund-raising events will have a designated leader with a sub-group/team for each individual event. This model was “brainstormed” at a special meeting in January, at which the shared out programme was agreed – though no doubt further activities/events will be added through the year. Lists for volunteers for sub-groups were circulated at the meeting, including the upcoming Coffee Morning scheduled for May 5th.
This first Coffee Morning is in aid of our sister club SI Harare‘s charity projects, which we have supported for many years. As conditions in Zimbabwe sadly continue to deteriorate, we know that any assistance we can give will be well used. Two more Coffee Mornings are scheduled for later in the year.
Past Presidents Sue Young and Judith Clarke announced the division of the more than £1200 raised at our recent Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson event. This will be shared between our two new club charities this year, Friends of Garget-Walker House Dementia Day Care Centre, Colburn Community Trust, Riding for the Disabled at Catterick and Marrick Priory Outdoor Centre. We are also about to complete our project to make Richmond a “Toilet Twinned Town”, in conjunction with Toilet Twinning, as we now have 19 twins in place and the final 20th is promised for next month.
It is good to be able to look forward to a “normal” programme with face-to-face Club meetings at the Scotch Corner Hotel instead of virtual sessions on Zoom, and the opportunity to include some social events as well as our fundraisers in this year’s calendar.
Women of Influence
Soroptimist International celebrated its centenary in 2021, and to mark this milestone m embers of SI Richmond & Dales decided to compile a record of women who, in their lives, had inspired and influenced them. Here are the citations for our Women of Influence, which were read out at the AGM:
Jean Crouch – Role model for education, nominated by Jan Beeton
As the co-editor of the “Girl” comic and annual, Jean Crouch provided life stories of influential women from British History and the Arts. This counterbalanced a very male view of history being taught in schools in the 1950s, being full of battles, revolutions, and royalty.
Each Christmas I would get a Girl annual and as an avid reader, I read them over and over again. It’s via this comic that I learned about Boadicea, Florence Nightingale, Edith Cavel, Flora McDonald, Elizabeth Barret-Browning, The Bronte sisters, Kathleen Ferrier, Emmaline Pankhurst, and many others.
Marjorie Clague, Role model for humour and stoicism, nominated by Jan Beeton
In 1932, my Auntie Madge, as the only girl, had to leave Grammar School at just 14 to cook, wash and housekeep for her four brothers after the death of first her father and then her mother. My father and Uncle Eric, her older brothers, were old enough to work, the younger ones still at school.
My memory of her is of fun! She was warm, energetic, clever, witty and a really good cook. She could make a roomful of people laugh!
Although she coped with later problems, including the death of her first child, there was never a sense that she thought life had dealt her a rough deal, although she had little tolerance for any of us children moaning over minor issues. She would jolly us out of it and give us something to keep us busy.
At times when my life has veered from the expected path, her stock phrases and attitude have kept my head up.
Current introspective practises and concerns about entitlement would have been a complete anathema to her.
Mary Jane Blewitt – Role model for self-sufficiency and enterprise, nominated by Susan Eastham
My great grandmother, who was an enterprising and hard working lady. She ran a business in Darlington during the 1930/40’s, and while her husband, brothers and sons were at war, she never stopped working. She was able to continue paying their NI stamp, so that when they returned from the war, they were first in line for employment
Amanda Owen – Role model for strength and vision, nominated by Susan Eastham
Now known as the Yorkshire Shepherdess – but anyone who lives somewhere as remote as Ravenseat in the far Yorkshire Dales, raises 9 children, looks after over 1000 sheep, and writes books in her spare time, as well as being a TV personality and after dinner speaker, is certainly is worthy of admiration.
Susanne Spencer – Role model for persistence and strength in adversity, nominated by Jane Priestley
Susie has raised a son who has Downs Syndrome. Her husband worked in the oil industry and Nathaniel has lived in various ‘wild’ parts of the world small towns in Sarawak, Venezuela, and the much larger Lagos to name a few. She has constantly battled with basic health care, found speech therapists and was tenacious in getting him to a good level of education. Nathaniel is now 31, they live in Houston where he has a job in a grocery store again something his mother convinced the store was possible and he was recently sent to ‘advise and settle in’ another employee with Downs at a sister store. Susie is someone who does not recognise the word no and I admire her greatly.
Susan de Wardt – Role model in enabling others, nominated by Jane Priestley
Susan funded herself through university in Chicago by belly dancing and cooking for others. She became a drilling engineer for Shell when few women saw that as a career choice. She gave up the day job to have a family but women and their well-being was always central to her life. She was vital to me when I had my first child in Sarawak, no child birth classes there, we practiced the Lamaze breathing method on her living room floor, meditation and poetry after although I was a rather ‘dull student’ in the latter two!
The family settled in Steamboat Springs, Colorado where Susan soon formed a relationship with the police helping victims of domestic abuse, setting up writing classes where women could discuss their lives and find support.
Maggie Beech – Role model for resilience and courage, nominated by Faye Doorbar
Maggie was my Great Aunt who has instilled a sense of adventure and inspired many in our family with her resilience. At the age of just 16 in 1904 she travelled alone from Norfolk to Northern Ontario to find and help her sister who had been taken there previously to work at a hotel of family friends, set up for the mining industry. Her journey, by road, rail, sea and on foot, alone of just over three weeks, following many incidents, found her in Montreal and from there she travelled to North Bay on which journey, a train derailed, a bridge collapsed and fires appeared to be burning all around. The short memoir that she wrote, tells of a life which seems incredible to readers in 2021. A dangerous time in the new Canadian mines and lumber camps, peopled by miners and very few women meant she quickly learned how to look after herself and rely on her own judgment.
She writes of astonishing experiences in a no-fuss, casual way, such as: “Some mornings when I got up the polar bears were sitting outside. They were hungry as the snow was so high and lake frozen. So I gave them something to eat and shut the door until they went away”!
Maggie travelled to different camps and mines, met her husband, returned to England then travelled again to rejoin her husband who had then moved with his work to Peru! Several babies were born during her time in South America and the years passed in harsh and challenging environments. She returned to Norfolk in 1920 while her husband settled somewhere deeper into Peru. She was to rejoin him once more but the letter never arrived and after many attempts to find her husband no trace of him was ever found.
Maggie brought up her five children alone and lived into her 90s. She was a remarkable person and her story is still marvelled at within the family.
Elspeth Robinson – Role model for enterprise, education and enabling others, nominated by Faye Doorbar
Elspeth has shown how through a desire to help people to help themselves, through her faith, dogged determination and abilities, the lives of others can be changed for the better.
Elspeth has forged relationships in Kumi, Uganda, used her own physiotherapy knowledge and skills to identify and offer the means for this underdeveloped and poor area of Uganda to improve the lives of those in need of medical interventions and for those caring for them. By quietly fundraising at home in England, by identifying how to deliver resources such as wheel chairs or visiting specialists and developing and nurturing a team on the ground in Kumi, Elspeth has enabled and empowered many women in particular, to help each other to improve their own lives. Elspeth’s charity has gone from strength to strength, powered by her own tenacity, single minded belief in her vision to educate and improve others’ lives and inspire many who know her.
Dame Barbara Castle – Role model for women’s careers and justice for women, nominated by Jenny Cathcart
Dame Barbara Castle was one of the first women to hold senior Ministerial Posts in the British Government, an influential figure in my teens. She was an outstandingly successful woman in a male dominated arena, and achieved this from relatively modest origins. She used her position to champion the cause of justice for women, as proponent of The Equal Pay Act 1970.
Mary Bevan – Role model women’s careers, fairness, caring service and charity work, nominated by Jenny Cathcart
Mary Bevan became the deputy head of Kingswood Grammar School, Corby, from it’s opening in 1965, when I was one of the original pupils. This was still an unusual achievement for a woman. She had been a missionary teacher in India in the 1950’s, when India was still a byword for poverty and deprivation, and was also active in the local Methodist community.
Miss Bevan taught maths – also unusual for a woman, and though she was strict, she was always fair, and willing to make time for pupils.
She was also an active supporter of LEPRA, the Leprosy Relief Association, and she promoted supporting this and other charities in the school. She set a great example of what a woman could achieve, and the exemplary way she lived. She even put up with the trials of trying to teach me maths…
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson
SI Richmond and Dales were delighted to host an evening with Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson at the Scotch Corner Hotel on Thursday 24th March. This was a really long-awaited event, as we originally planned this prior to the pandemic. After several postponements, we were very pleased the event was finally able to take place. This was despite an road accident just below Scotch Corner an hour before the event, which closed the A1 Southbound, and caused traffic chaos around the junction and the hotel. Luckily, Baroness Tanni arrived early. Sadly, many of our guests were delayed, and our fellow Soroptimists coming south from Darlington and Durham were unable to make it in time to hear her speak.
The event was organised in support of International Women’s Day. SIGBI’s theme for International Women’s Day was Breaking the Bias and Baroness Tanni inspired us to seek a world where difference is valued and celebrated. She was a delightful and entertaining speaker. She told of her childhood, and her parents fight to ensure she had a mainstream education despite her disability. Born with Spina Bifida, she was paralysed when only a child due to the collapse of her spine. Despite this, she decided that what she wanted to be was an athlete – and what an athlete she became! After graduating from Loughborough University with a degree in Politics, she became a full-time international wheelchair racer. She amassed a remarkable medal haul over 16 years and five Paralympic Games of 11 gold, 4 silver and a bronze and 30 world records, was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and made a Dame for services to sport . She was generous in thanking the support she has had to enable her to pursue her racing career, but her extraordinary achievements are a tribute to her dedication and determination.
Since retiring from competitive racing, she has worked in sport, including the successful London Olympic bid for 2012. After being appointed Baroness Grey-Thompson of Eaglescliffe she has developed a second career in the House of Lords. She continues to demonstrate her dedication and hard work ethics as a cross-bench peer working on a range of issues, including disability. In fact, she was whisked away after her talk by her husband to catch a train back to London so that she could speak the following day in the Lords on a measure to give legal recognition to British Sign Language. What an inspirational woman!
Fellow Soroptimists from a number of other Yorkshire Clubs as well as North East, Cumbria and Manchester attended. After Baroness Tanni’s departure, guests were served a very tasty “pie and pea” supper, and indulged in considerable chat and networking for the remainder of the evening.
Baroness Tanni kindly asked that we donate the profits of the event to a charity of our choice. As a ‘thank you’ we have donated a cherry tree to be planted in Baroness Tanni’s name in the new Rufus Wood in Richmond which is being planted in celebration of 950 years since the building of the castle. Including a tombola and raffle, we were able to raise the magnificent total of £1276 at the event. Donations are planned to Riding for the Disabled and Marrick Priory Outdoor Education Centre.
March Monthly Meeting
Here is the update on our March Monthly Meeting. We did not have a speaker at this month’s meeting, as it was our annual Programme Action Review. Jenny Cathcart, the incoming Programme Action Lead, described the varied things we were able to despite the limitations of the Covid pandemic. These have been described on the news blog through the year, but it is always useful to remind ourselves of what we have been able to do, especially for our main charities this year, Just-The-Job and Colburn Foodshare. As always, we seem to have been able to do much more than we remembered. Let us hope that we are less subject to restrictions this year, and can return to full throttle.
Members have been active this month alongside others in this area in donating food and baby supplies to the Ukraine Crisis initiative based at Colburn Community Centre. The Community Group led by Angie Dale appealed for donations, and worked hard to sort and pack the resulting supplies. They deserve great praise for gathering together an enormous amount of food, clothing and other supplies from the area and organising their transport to the Ukraine. It was wonderful to see the response their appeal received.
It was also good to report that we have almost reached our target for the Toilet Twinned Town project. This was started prior to the pandemic, but had to put on hold. The plan is to make Richmond a Toilet Twinned Town in association with the Toilet Twinning charity, by “twinning” toilets in 20 locations across public buildings, schools and businesses. We hope to have this complete by the end of this Soroptimist year.
Members were also encouraged to use our EasyFundRaising page when shopping on-line. A small percentage from every transaction is donated to our funds by the retailer, and this provides a very useful additional income stream. This enables us to give some additional donations as requests come in during the year.
FEBRUARY MEETING
The February meeting saw a good turnout of members plus several guests. We were also joined by our new cohort of 5 students from Richmond School. They will be joining us for the next 3 months for our ongoing ‘Sharing Our Skills’ project. This gives the students an opportunity to see how we work – see the structure of Executive and business meetings, and take part in charitable and campaigning activities.
Upcoming Events
Our International Women’s Day event will be on 24th March. We will at long last be able to welcome Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson to speak to us at the Scotch Corner Hotel. Due to the pandemic, this event has been postponed for 2 years! Over 130 tickets have been sold. We will also be selling copies of “Spider Woman”, the autobiography of our patron, Baroness Hale, at the event, and running a raffle.
Regional representatives will be attending the next Yorkshire Regional Conference at The Bridge, Walshford on 19th March. The theme for the session if “People & Planet”, with speakers from Mary’s Meals and the Trussel Trust.
Invitations have been received to attend the Richmond Civic Service and Procession on 20th March, and the Mayor’s Charity Dinner fundraiser on 30th April.
Bookings are still available to join those of our members attending the Yorkshire President’s weekend at the Jonas Centre at Redmire. This takes place on Friday & Saturday, 1st/2nd July.
Donations
It was agreed to send £22 left over from our “sanitary levy” to Foodshare in Colburn/ We will also donate £38.52 received from Easyfundraising to “Mary’s Meals”, as requested by Yorkshire President Lindsey Green.
Dorothy, having had a clear-out at home, is donating a large bag of teddy bears to the Garget-Walker House Dementia Care Centre.
Sharing our Skills Students
The students reported back on their planning meeting. They have decided to focus their activity during the project on Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence. They will be proposing to the Student Council holding a fundraising colour-themed “Dress Down Day”. Proceeds will go to a charity chosen by the students, such as IDAS, KYRA Women’s Project or Togetherwomen. They will also develop a Powerpoint presentation on ‘Healthy Relationships’. This will be shown on the school’s information TV system.
Sandy Baxter commended the students on behalf of the club for their enthusiasm and research.
Fundraising Opportunities
We have been asked if we would be prepared to provide refreshments at two separate functions:
- Adrian Bramley (father of Eleanor, an SOS student from a previous year) is proposing to set up Afternoon Tea Dances at the Town Hall, and would welcome provision of tea and cakes
- James Naughtie, the journalist & broadcaster, will be speaking at the Walking and Books Festival in September, offering another opportunity for selling refreshments
Time to get baking?
SI Richmond & Dales January Update
Happy New Year to all! As we had no meeting to December, this is the first post of 2022, SI Richmond & Dales January update.
January Meeting
Instead of our usual evening meeting, we met on Saturday 15th for our January meeting at the Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner. This enabled us to have a 4 hour session split by lunch, and avoided any problems for members with travel on a winter evening. We had a very fruitful session to organise programme for 2022-3. We have agreed to become what Soroptimist International terms a ‘light-touch’ club. Normally planning programme would be done by the incoming President and her supporters, but we will not have a President for 2022-23. We have agreed to share presidential duties (chairing meetings and attending events) across the membership, with a different person in charge each month. Volunteers have agreed to take on (or continue) in the posts of Secretary, Treasurer and Programme Action Coordinator. This is the minimum needed for our Executive Roles. Non-executive roles were also taken up by members, who will attend Executive meetings as they see necessary.
We gathered suggestions and designed the programme of speakers and other events for the year’s meetings. We agreed our charities would be Garget Walker House (the local dementia support centre) which is operated by charity Dementia Forward, and a new community support charity Colburn Community Trust which is being established by Simon Eastwood, formerly of The Jonas Centre, with whom we have worked over several years. We scheduled several fundraising events, which were allocated members to organise them, and some social activities for members were also planned in. We are now well placed to go forward into next year, which we hope will see a return to our usual level of activity. Although Executive meetings will continue to be by Zoom, as this has proved to be a convenient travel-free option for small meetings, we are planning for all Club Meetings to be face-to-face as normal.
Quiz Night
We held a fundraising Quiz & Supper at The Holiday Inn Scotch Corner at the end of November. Approximately 70 contestants too part in the quiz, and a total of £404 was raised. The Hotel served a very good Pie & Pea Supper, and the quiz was set and run for us by local regular quizmaster Dave Tucker. First prize was a voucher for dinner for two in Fratello’s, the Scotch Corner Hotel restaurant. Members of SI Richmond & Dales marked the occasion by wearing orange to highlight the international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
Xmas Meal
We were able to celebrate Christmas with a meal at The Station, Richmond, which was enjoyed by all who attended. Our booking coincided with the local music and dance academy presenting a free performance to showcase the pupils skills. This provided a delightful and unexpected addition to our evening.
Xmas Card Sales
Our member Chris Bowran once again sold her artwork greetings cards with Christmas designs. Chris donates money from the sales to our funds for our sister club SI Harare. She will know the total raised by March.
Presentation to Just The Job
Past-President Faye Doorbar and Treasurer Babs Hunt visited the Just The Job site in Richmond on a chilly morning in early January. They presented a cheque £1,000 to Steve Biggs, General Manager of this Environmental Enterprise, and Work Team Member Alan . Just The Job has been our main charity for 2021-2. Refreshments served at the spring and summer Open Garden days at Mr. Yorke’s Walled Garden and the Quiz night were organised by members to contribute to Just the Job’s ‘Big Green Build’ project. This will see a new, larger and specialist facility for the charity being built nearby supported by Zetland Estates. This will ensure a sustainable future for the organisation and creating a pioneering project for the Richmond area.
November meeting and talk
Our November meeting and talk were held at the Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner. This was an open meeting with guests, to hear a fascinating talk from Elizabeth Smith, Public Events Coordinator (North East) of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It was surprising to discover that they not only work to maintain the many war grave cemeteries and memorials in the UK and Europe, but in many other parts of the world as well, from South America to the Far East. It is also remarkable that new burials continue to take place, as bodies from both World War I and World War II are still being discovered. Many of our members and guests have visited these sites, and been moved by what they represent. An excellent talk!
Good news from SI Harare
Chris Bowran updated us on good news from our sister club SI Harare about two of their ongoing projects which we have previously supported. The Traditional Birthing Attendants of Epworth whom we have previously supported have recently received training from overseas, paid for by SI Harare, so the women are now qualified midwives and able to manage difficult births. They are also able to be employed in a hospital, thereby improving their own socioeconomic status. SI Harare have also received a generous donation from another of their friendship links, SI Kansas City. This has paid for solar power to be installed at the Society Of Destitute Elderly (SODA) and will be an enormous help, as SODA has no money to pay the electricity bill.
Chris has also been selling her lovely Christmas cards in aid of SI Harare, so we will also have money to donate early next year.
Sharing Our Skills Project
Our ongoing project to invite students at Richmond School to take part in our meetings and other activities will be running again in the Spring Term 2022. The School is in the process of nominating students for this year’s cohort. We don’t know whether there will be one or two or a larger group but will welcome however many want to come. We propose to continue the “buddy” system, whereby each student is linked to a club member who will look after them for the duration of their stay.
The Jonas Centre
Judith Clark updated us with our friends at The Jonas Centre. Our trees have now been planted in the grounds of the Centre. This will also be the location the SI Yorkshire President’s Gathering next year on the first weekend of July, which promises to be a really good event. We are also invited to assist The Jonas Centre with a fundraising coffee morning at Richmond Town Hall on 24th February. We are told that they need lots of help from us (we’re the experts apparently!)
Upcoming events
We will be celebrating Christmas with a meal at The Station, Richmond in December, instead of a meeting. Then in January we are holding a special Saturday meeting at Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner to plan our programme for 2022-23. We decided that we needed a longer session than usual, and have chosen a Saturday so that our working members are able to attend. This will be a daytime meeting with lunch, which will also be easier for our older members. Getting to evening meetings in winter weather in North Yorkshire can be a challenge.
Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson
Our planned meeting with Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson as our speaker was sadly cancelled in 2020 due to the onset of the Covid pandemic. This also torpedoed our efforts to re-arrange this in 2021. We are now planning an evening with Dame Tanni in March, again at Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner. Holders of tickets for the original event can check with Judith Clark for details of their booking.
Season’s Greeting to you all
SI Richmond & Dales in October
Monthly Meeting Talk
We met at the Scotch Corner Holiday Inn Hotel, which is likely to become our new regular meeting place. The meeting began with a talk by member Barbara (Babs) Hunt about the Institute of Advanced Motoring (of which she is a member), and the courses offered to brush up driving skills. The IAM offers a range of courses to different types of road users, and the local group, based in Northallerton, is active in promoting its services and road safety concerns. Babs suggested that members consider taking a course, or at least trying a free taster session. Probably a good idea!
Invitations to join activities in the community
Just the Job is holding an Open Day on 6th November at their Gallowfields site, and has asked the Soroptimists for volunteers to help serve refreshment through the day. We have also been invited to publicise and contribute to a Richmond 950 ‘Writing Richmond’ project. Members are invited to write their ‘Richmond Story’ – a single A4 sheet of their history and experiences of Richmond. Over 400 pieces have been written by Richmond’s primary school children and the 950 team are also collecting other Richmond residents’ stories. They will be displayed and archived at the Richmondshire Museum for posterity. They can be hand-written or typed – whichever people wish… and both sides of the paper can be used. All contributions can be handed at Goosewing Gallery in Richmond’s Indoor Market Hall.
Baroness Hale at The Georgian Theatre Royal
A large group of members attended the ‘Evening with Baroness Hale’ at the Georgian Theatre Royal on 20th September. This was part of the Richmond Walking & Books Festival, and SI R&D were mentioned as sponsors of the event. This was a most enjoyable evening, hearing about the life of our Patron.
Programme Action Update
We held our first Coffee Morning since before the Covid Pandemic at the Town Hall on Thursday, 14th October. Numbers attending were modest, but a total of £155 was raised. We also ran a raffle at a Colburn, Catterick & Richmond Libraries (CRACCL) event, a talk about the Royal Jewellery Collection on Saturday 16th October, where £33 was raised. Tickets are also selling well for our Quiz on on 20th November.
Former President Judith Clark (as a member of CRACCL Trust) is proposing to start a regular monthly “Coffee, Cake & Chat” session at Richmond and Colburn libraries as a community get-together. This follows the successful trial at Richmond library recently. Judith asked if SI R&D would like to provide volunteers to take part in these sessions, to be an ear to those who want someone to chat to. She is hoping to start these on Wednesdays. The meeting voted unanimously to support this venture. As we have a quantity of coffee/tea & biscuits left-over from our Coffee Morning and will not have another one for a considerable time, it was also agreed that we pass these on to CRACCL as a contribution to funding.
Remembrance Day
As usual, SI Richmond & Dales will be presenting a wreath on Remembrance Day. Two members attend the commemorative Royal British Legion Service at St Mary’s Church and the Parade to the wreath-laying Ceremony at the War Memorial. A second person was asked to volunteer to join Sharon Hanson-Cooper.
Soroptimist Cup for Making a Difference
Babs Hunt attended the Awards evening at Risedale School to present the annual Soroptimist Cup to the pupil nominated by the school. This year’s award went to Olivia Bainbridge for her services going above and beyond during Covid lockdown. Olivia went to work with her mum every day to their local community centre where she helped make meals and other food supplies for the vulnerable and elderly. Alongside this, she made masks and helped with the organisation of materials used to make scrubs for our emergency services, playing a vital role in helping the community. Congratulations to Olivia!
September Meeting
Meeting Speaker
SI R&D held it’s September meeting at the Colburn Village Hall on 16th September. The meeting began with a fascinating talk by local ex-army man Bryan Selkirk. He has been working for over 20 years with Charity Chernobyl Aid UK to support families from the Chernobyl area, which is now part of Belarus. Bryan hosted visiting children who came for holidays for a number of years, when they were able to have helath checks, and explore the area. He then went on to help set up a wheelchair-friendly home for disabled children – for whom conditions are otherwise very bad – and a respite home for families. For the next 10 years Bryan drove a truck as part of a humanitarian convoy to Belarus carrying donations of clothes and equipment. Sadly, the pandemic forced these to stop, but he hopes that they will soon be able to restart. Bryan has made a wonderful contribution to this charity, which is providing much needed help.
Our business meeting then discussed a number of fundraising events coming up in the next few weeks:
October and November fund-raising events
We will be holding a Coffee Morning at the Richmond Town Hall on 14th October, with a cake stall, tombola, raffle and a stand publicising our Toilet Twinning campaign. We will also be serving refreshments at the evening being organised by our local library services charity Catterick, Richmond & Colburn Community Libraries (CRACCL). This is a fundraiser talk on 16th October about the Royal Art Collection, by a former guide to the collection. We will then be holding a Quiz Night with Pie & Pea Supper on 20th November at the Holiday Inn, Scotch Corner. Donations were invited for a prize hamper and a raffle.
Soroptimist Cup
One of our members, Chris Bowran, was unable to attend the meeting as she was making a presentation of our Soroptimists Cup for Making a Difference to pupil Sarah Manning, at Richmond School that same evening. This is the citation from the school about Sarah:
“Sarah is caring, committed, mature and thoughtful, someone who can always be relied on to make school a better place for her peers and teachers. Not only that, but she is a real community hero, devoting much of her free time to charity work. Sarah was one of only fifty Year 10 to Year 13 students nationally to secure a place on the ‘Next Gen Nurse’ work experience programme. Supporting her quest to become a mental health nurse, Sarah approached a local nursing home about volunteering opportunities. She has been successful in her application to support residents with dementia. Sarah is a student leader and she will be in this ambassador role for a year and take part in many projects in the school to enhance the experiences of students. Alongside being a dedicated and hard-working student and student leader, during lockdown, Sarah raised £363 for Mind, by running a mile daily for 27 days in March.”
What a worthy cup winner, indeed!
Day of Action for Afghanistan
1 September 2021 has been designated as the Day of Action for Afghanistan: think in these things!
July Meeting Face to Face
We were able to hold our July meeting face to face – the first time since February 2020. It was lovely! We met at Colburn Village Hall on a beautiful sunny evening for a meal and get-together, with a low key business session.
Angie Dale and Colburn Community Action
We began with a short talk from Angie Dale, mastermind and leader of Colburn’s response to the Covid crisis. This comprised a PPE sewing bee, which produced 250 PPE garments a week for local health services. She also established a food-share bank (to which we contributed), which enabled many local families in hardship to collect essential supplies to keep them going during lockdown. She added a clothing and household goods exchange to the list, all based in the Village Hall. As if this was not enough, the community group she leads provided lunches for local schoolchildren on the free school meals scheme during the half term holidays, and she is now investigating options for the summer break. A real Covid hero!
Long Service Awards
Angie’s ladies then served us a delicious two-course meal for £10 per head, with tea, whilst we caught up with each other on how we were getting on. So much nicer than Zoom, however useful. Angie thanked us for our donation of food and household supplies brought to the meeting. President Sharon was able to present 3 long service certificates to Sandy Baxter (25 years), Anne Morton (25 years) and Anne Potts (30 years), thanking them for their contribution to the club, and their inspiration to her. Sadly, 3 other members were unable to attend to collect their certificates awarded earlier in the year.
Baroness Hale
We were delighted to hear that our Patron, Baroness Hale, will be attending our September meeting. A group of us will be seeing her at the Georgian Theatre Royal for an evening presentation of her life, as her memoirs are about to be published under the apt title of “Spider Woman”.
Richmond 950
Sue Young told us that volunteer places are still available for the Community Archaeology Dig at Richmond Castle (part of the Richmond 950 programme), and we are invited to contribute Reminiscences of Richmond – details to follow. Sue encouraged us to visit the exhibition ‘950 Years of Communications in Richmond’ which the Rotary Club are showing in the Town Hall in August. She also distributed copies of the programme for the Walking and Books Festival, scheduled for September, which she and Judith Clarke have been helping to organise. It is good to see the town and community groups returning to “normal” activities.
Future meeting locations
Our social convener, Jane Priestley, reported that we are still on the hunt for meeting premises, as the Cricket Club is no longer able to provide for us as previously. We hope to have something in place in time for September’s meeting. In the meantime, we will meet in August for a picnic supper at The Jonas Centre, which will enable club members to see the tree planting and memorial bench we provided earlier this year.
Mr Yorke’s Open Garden
We were pleased to be able to participate in Mr Yorke’s Open Garden day in Richmond in June. This event was part of the Richmond 950 celebrations, and SI Richmond and Dales manned a refreshment stall in aid of our President’s charity, Just the Job.
Members baked and donated cakes for the stall, together with tea and coffee supplies. We also raffled two hampers filled by members donations. Luckily the weather was good, and we were able to raise £445.50. We had a superb selection of cakes, prompting many compliments from the visitors. Marcia and Dennis McLuckie, whose garden this is, expressed their sincere thanks to SI Richmond & Dales for taking care of all the refreshments.
As we have not yet been able to meet in person for a club meeting, we also took advantage of this event to present President Sharon with the Club Regalia.
June Meeting via Zoom
History Talk
Once again, we held our June meeting via Zoom. We began with a fascinating and informative talk by Mike Wood of the Richmondshire Museum, for which we were joined by some of our Friendship Link members. Mike spoke about Richmond’s history as part of the Richmond 950 Anniversary celebrations.
Commemoration
After the talk we had a minute’s silence in memory of SIGBI President Johanna Raffan, MBE, who sadly died recently, during her year of office. She is a great loss to Soroptimism.
Programme Action & Activities
Our new President Sharon has been busy keeping up with the Yorkshire Committee and Programme Action group. She has also registerered for the SIGBI and Centenary Conferences later this year. She was sorry to announce that our planned coffee morning for July has been cancelled due to the extension of Covid restrictions. Happily, dates have been offered instead for next year. However, the Mr Yorke’s Open Garden event on Sunday is going ahead as planned. We are providing refreshments at this event in aid of Just the Job, the President’s charity this year. We have enough donations for two hampers to raffle, enough baking offers, and volunteers to serve on the day.
There was also discussion of reviving the Toilet Twinning project which had to be abandoned last year due to Covid. Now things are returning to more nearly normal, we can plan to restart approaching organisations to take part. Judith Clarke also alerted us to another re-cycling opportunity. Superdrug is taking in used pill strips for recycling – although the nearest branch participating is in Harrogate. A good excuse for a visit to Betty’s, perhaps!
Public Newsletter
Members Chris Bowran and Wendy Arrowsmith have produced a Newsletter which is available the Richmond library (where our banner is being displayed). We hope this will encourage new members to join us. It was suggested that this be repeated each quarter, and possibly made available in other local libraries in our area.
Social Opportunities
Social activities are being planned for later in the year. Some members will be attending a Jazz Dinner at The Station in October, and President Sharon suggested attending a Richmond 950 Open Air Cinema event at Aske Hall Stables in September. We have also been alerted to look out for release of tickets for a talk by our Patron, Baroness Hale, former President of the Supreme Court. She will be appearing at The Georgian Theatre Royal as part of the Richmond Walking & Books Festival in September. This coincides with the publication of her memoirs.
Face to Face in July
We are delighted to be planning a face-to-face meeting in July. We have been invited to Colburn Village Hall to hear about the Colburn Food Bank, and a two-course meal will be provided for £10 per head. This will be our first get together in person since February last year. An occasion to look forward to! As our precious meeting location (the Cricket Club) is no longer able to offer us a meal & room option, Jane Priestly, our Social Convener, is investigating other options for us for future meetings.
May Meeting & Programme for 2021-22
At the Zoom May Meeting our new President Sharon Hanson-Cooper presented her programme for 2021-22. This is published on the Club Website under About Our Club, together with the new list of Club Officers, and our Friendship Links. We will be having an interesting mix of social, informational and programme action based meetings and events, as we continue to support Just The Job, and our SI Harare friends in Zimbabwe. As the Covid crisis rolls back towards “normal life”, we hope to be able to meet physically instead of via Zoom soon. and options are being explored for a suitable location. We also hope to restart our long-running “Sharing Our Skills” project in the New Year, in association with Richmond School. We congratulate two of our former “SOS” students on recent achievements: Becky Potts has achieved a place at Leeds University to do a Masters in Theorectical Physics and Eleanor Bramley has been awarded a scholarship to read Arabic and French at Manchester University.
Jonas Centre Bench
Past presidents Sue and Judith reported on the installation of the memorial bench at The Jonah Centre. Tree planting is expected to take place in October.
Richmond 950
Members have been recruited to provide and serve refreshments at one of the Richmond 950 Events, the open day at Mr Yorke’s Garden on Sunday, June 20th. Members will bake cakes for the stall, and serve tea and coffee to visitors accordance with all appropriate Covid Regulations. All monies raised will be donated to Just The Job. We hope for another success as we achieved at the same open day last year.
Baroness Hale
Two of our members have been involved in planning for this year’s Richmond Walking and Books Festival, and in particular reported that our Patron, Baroness Hale, will be speaking at the Georgian Theatre as part of the festival. She is publishing her memoirs – appropriately called ‘Spider Woman’. SIR&D is planning a block booking!
Update on Chikupo School
We have an update on Chikupo School in Zimbabwe which we have been assisting through SI Harare. We received these photos from the Head of Chikupo School, showing their new veg plot where they grow vegetables for the local community. It’s good to see the hosepipe with water pouring out. We sent money towards their new water supply, as they’ve suffered badly in recent droughts. The Headmaster said “you played a big role in the project and we will always be grateful”.
Steak & Kidney Pies
A special donation: the club decided to bring a little treat to the families using the foodbank housed at the Village Hall in Colburn. Angie who runs the project told club members that Fray Bentos steak and kidney pies are regarded as a luxury by it’s customers. They are not bought by the foodbank because the pies cost more than the foodbank limit per item. The club therefore contributed 8 meat pies, plus another 3 vegan and vegetarian ones for those with particular needs. They were quickly snapped up!
Annual General Meeting via Zoom
SI Richmond and Dales met for their formal Annual General Meeting by Zoom this month. After such a difficult year, it was good to be able to reflect on the things we have managed to achieve despite lockdowns, remote meetings and social distancing. Our outgoing Presidents Faye and Jane highlighted:
Generous foodbank contributions for the Storehouse foodbank, Richmond, including baby bundles
Donations for SI Harare, forwarded by Western Union
Curtilage Awareness Raising in August and Just the Job fundraising
Successful fundraising refreshment stall at the Open Garden at Mr. Yorke’s Walled garden in aid of Just the Job
Guest speakers on Zoom, Steve Biggs from Just the Job, Andy Wilson from Yorkshire Cancer Research, and our own Babs Hunt
Participation in 16 days of Activism, Orange the World – Action against Gender Based Violence on line and at our November Meeting where the screen had a distinct orange theme
270 Saplings ordered and received from the Woodland Trust, now planted at Just the Job for their new premises adjacent to the new Rufus Wood for Richmond 950 . The SIGBI Centenary Tree Planting Map shows an entry for SI Richmond and Dales
Social Christmas Zoom and Club Quiz
Several Long Service Awards given out during the year, and a special conversation took place with Shirley Thubron, who was awarded her 50 Year Certificate at the AGM – well done Shirely!
We were able to link on line with our Friendship Clubs, Northallerton and Easter Ross, as well as participating in other online events with SI Darlington, SI Scarborough, Yorkshire RCMs and of course the annual virtual Conference. We also recalled the sad loss of long-standing member Hilary Ibbotson, who died suddenly earlier this year. She is much missed.
Faye and Jane thanked the membership for their support through their year, and are pleased to be able to say that our membership has stayed in contact, active and together, despite the difficulties faced.
Members thanked the retiring Presidents and all officers of the club for their efforts, and welcomed new holders of the posts of Secretary and Treasurer. The incoming President, Sharon Hanson-Cooper spoke to the membership as she takes over the mantle. Her programme for 2021-2 will be circulated shortly.
Donations to Colburn Food Bank
Past President Sue Young asked members if they could make donations to Colburn Food Bank. Sue had heard they were looking for extra food, household and clothing donations, during her activities as Trustee for Colburn Library, as part of CRACCL (Catterick, Richmond and Colburn Community Library). Members rallied round, and Sue has now delivered our donations. She sent the following:
‘Thank you to all members who took the time to donate a wide variety of food and other items for the Colburn foodbank. Angie, who runs the project, was very grateful for our fast response at a time when demand for their goods has risen as COVID impacts on household finances.”
